Bolton Conservation Commission orders $5,900 independent review of Century Mill Road wetlands

BOLTON — January 26, 2021 — Bolton's Conservation Commission unanimously approved a $5,900 independent wetland review for a contested Century Mill Road development while advancing three simultaneous 40B projects toward resolution. The five-member board, chaired by Brian Barabee and supported by conservation agent Rebecca Longbow, voted 5-0 to retain BSC Group under MGL Chapter 44, Section 53G, to evaluate two depressional areas on the Century Mill Road site — designated Depression A and Depression B — where applicant engineer Scott Hayes argued average water depths fall short of the six-inch jurisdictional trigger, but commission member Emily Winner said a site visit showed ponding "very close" to the threshold. Public commenter Richard Davis, of 185 Hudson Road, told the board pre-Christmas rains produced ponding "significantly more" than the applicant's December 10 baseline, "by orders of magnitude." The commission also agreed in principle to a denial on the Stone River Commons four-unit 40B project filed by David Russell of Fernluck LLC, with a vote and mandatory wet signatures required before a statutory 21-day deadline the following Tuesday.